


I Know You Care (I see it in the way that you stare)

by KilledTheQueen



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Erica and Boyd because I miss them, Car Accidents, Coma, Deputy Derek, Hurt Stiles, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mates, Stiles has really horrible not helpful visions, mentions of delicious cupcakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2014-06-24
Packaged: 2018-01-19 09:41:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1464667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KilledTheQueen/pseuds/KilledTheQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the confusion that Stiles dislikes the most, the flipping whirling world outside his windshield that refuses to still as his mind races to catch up. For a moment he is not sure what happened or where he is, or even who he is, but once the vehicle screeches to a stop and the pain flares up in his abdomen he is suddenly back online. Stiles knows pain well at this point and it grounds him.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>The one where Stiles is in a coma and wakes up a little...different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Accidents, Cupcakes and Tactile Wolves

**Author's Note:**

> Concept based on Stephen King's Dead Zone. That being said many many liberties are taken and it does not follow the story of the novel at all.

It's the confusion that Stiles dislikes the most, the flipping whirling world outside his windshield that refuses to still as his mind races to catch up. For a moment he is not sure what happened or where he is, or even _who_ he is, but once the vehicle screeches to a stop and the pain flares up in his abdomen he is suddenly back online. Stiles knows pain well at this point and it grounds him.

His baby, Vera this week because he just got through watching Firefly, and wow how had he missed that series before?, rests on her side at the bottom of what Stiles can only assume is a very long, very steep drop, judging by the number of flips he remembers the jeep taking. His shoulder is resting against the driver's side door, which would be okay if it wasn't facing the ground. His shoulder hurts and his head is fuzzy, but it all pales in comparison to the pain in his stomach. Stiles reaches out reflexively to cover the throbbing area only to scream in agony when he tries to move his arm. The wave of pain rolls through his body making his stomach curdle and the air hard to breathe. He's gasping and vomiting before he even realizes it and tiny whimpers are escaping his mouth against his will. Retching moves his aching body in horrible ways and he loses track of time, unsure if he passes out or stays conscious. He can barely understand anything beyond the pain in his stomach and the exhaustion that's clouding his mind.

He's not sure how long he's been sitting there before his phone starts vibrating, echoing loudly and lighting up the ruins of the jeep. He turns his head slowly, the phone sits in the passenger's seat, just out of reach but moving seems like a bad idea. Surely Scott will notice when he's late to the pack meeting, he'll know something is wrong and come looking for him, right? The vibrating stops suddenly and Stiles isn't sure if he's happy for the silence or terrified because his vision is starting to darken at the edges. It doesn't matter either way because moments later the phone starts vibrating again. This time Stiles reaches out, moaning in agony as he stretches his hand out just far enough to hit the speaker button.

"Stiles where the hell are you?" Scott says, "The meeting is about to start and Derek is looking pissed. Don't tell me you got detention again."

"Sc-" Stiles tries to answer but the change in angle his body had taken when he moved to answer the phone has brought his stomach into view, what is tha-...oh shit oh god...

"Stiles?" All Stiles can do is whimper, god he's not going to make it, "Stiles!" There's a shuffle over the line and suddenly a growl echos through the jeep, it's familiar and harsh but somehow it helps Stiles nerves settle a bit.

"Sor-sorry sourw-wolf" he rasps. "Don't th-think I'm gonna make t-th..." Stiles blacks out before he can finish his sentence and all he can think is finally.

\--

When he wakes again, the jeep is right side up and Derek is there. His door is open and the alpha is leaning over him with a look Stiles has never seen before, but before Stiles can say anything Derek covers his lips with a gentle finger."This is going to hurt" Derek says, He's wrong, it doesn't hurt. Stiles doesn't feel anything when Derek pulls the long shard of glass from his stomach,

"I'm sorry" Stiles mumbles as he finally understands what the emotion is on Derek's face, it's grief. Derek has had enough of that.

"Shut up" Derek demands, but the ire isn't there like it usually is. When Derek lifts Stiles from the seat he screams and then passes out again.

\--

He's not sure how long it's been when he wakes up this time, but long enough that his injuries don't seem to be hurting much, he supposes they probably have him on some pretty amazing drugs. He opens his eyes slowly, the room is unfamiliar, white and sterile but oddly more homey than he remembers the hospital being from his way too numerous visits. There are potted plants and decorative pillows lining what looks like a well worn but expensive sofa near the window. Stiles looks to the side and is surprised to see a large glass bowl containing what looks like the world's grumpiest goldfish beside his bed. The fish is staring at him with a thoroughly unimpressed air, must be related to Derek. "Sour-fish" he rasps, and wow. Okay owe, his throat is parched what the hell, he must have been out of it longer than he thought.

He turns to ask his dad for a glass of water but stills suddenly when he realizes that he's not there. No one is there. The room is empty. "H-hello?" he rasps, but no answer comes. "Hello?" he tries again, gaining a little more volume, but no one steps from the bathroom or races through the door like he expects. The room around him is silent.

Okay, cool maybe his dad is taking a break from the whole watching his son like a hawk and hoping he doesn't die shtick, and Scott is probably pestering his mom about when he's going to wake up, which duh he would know if he was here. That just leaves Derek and the pack who are probably in the cafeteria getting sustenance for the world-weary Sheriff who is...somewhere around here Stiles is sure.

Still Stiles would like some water, so he turns hoping to spot a nurse call button, there's none next to the goldfish from hell so he turns easily to check the other side of the bed. He stills suddenly with his torso half over the bed rail reaching for the call button located on the wall. It occurs to him all at once that he shouldn't be in this position, he could pull his stitches or staples or whatever is no doubt holding his stomach together. Then he realizes that he is no pain and he can’t feel any stitches. Stiles flops back down into the bed as his heartbeat starts to race, He should be in pain, a lot of pain because that glass nearly ripped him in half and he’s fairly sure he at least had a concussion from the way his eyesight kept threatening to blacken out. So yeah, pain should be a thing he is feeling right now. It takes him a moment to calm enough to move his arm, which he knows was broken and lift his white t-shirt up until all he can see is the peach puckered skin of a well healed scar that trails from his hip up and across his stomach.

He screams, at least he thinks he screams but it's hard to remember, All he knows is that a confused nurse in lilac scrubs is suddenly running into his room and asking him to stay calm while simultaneously taking his blood pressure and paging someone over the phone.

"Do you know where you are?" she asks, after she hangs up and starts unwinding the pressure cuff from around his arm.

"Be-Beacon Hills" Stiles rasps, coughing as his disused vocal chords rub together.

"Here" the nurse pulls a bottle of water out of a small fridge beside his bed, lifting it to his mouth. "drink slowly"

Stiles tries, but the water tastes so good and it soothes his sore throat. He's sputtering before she pulls it away from him. "How l-long?" he asks.

The nurse seems to know what he's asking but she just shakes her head, "I think we should wait for the doctor."

"Where's my dad?" he asks, because more than anything he just wants his dad, needs the comfort of his wry smile and warm arms even if it's accompanied by a stern lecture about safe driving and him being grounded until forever.

"He's being called" is all she says.

There's a knock on the door a moment later and a man with deep caramel skin and long curly hair walks in, he gives off an air of capability but Stiles can tell by the way the man's eyes skitter over him that he wasn't expecting to be dealing with Stiles today, at least not while he was awake.

"Mr. Stilinski" he greets as we comes the side of his bed, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine" he answers, because he is, which is of course all the more unsettling.

"No nausea, dizziness?"

"No, where is my dad?"

"Sheriff Stilinski and his deputy are on their way here as we speak." He answers, though Stiles doesn't know why he should care about who is giving his dad a lift. "Can you tell me where you are?"

"Beacon Hills, California" he answers.

"Good," The doctor nods, noting something in Stiles' chart, "I'm doctor Linares, I'm going ask you a series of questions just to make sure that your brain is functioning alright. You took a hard knock to the head in that accident." He explains, "Is that okay with you?" Stiles shrugs and the doctor takes it as permission. "Okay Grz-"

"Stiles"

"I'm sorry?" Linares looks confused.

"My name, everyone calls me Stiles."

"Oh" he answers, making another note in his file, God he hopes the doc hasn't been running around calling him Grzegorz, the pack will never let him live it down once they know. "okay Stiles, can you tell me what happened?"

"Uh, well there was something in the road I think..." Stiles answers, "A deer maybe?" It totally wasn't a deer, it was definitely a werewolf and an unfamiliar one, shit he needs to tell Derek. "it ran out in front of me, I swerved to avoid it, rolled down a hill."

"Good. good" the doctor nodded, "and Stiles, can you tell me how old you are?"

"Seventeen" he answered.

"And what year were you born?"

"1996" Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Good" Doctor Linares nodded, "You seem to be doing well, I think we'll be able to start getting you up and into physical therapy before too long. But for now I just want to monitor you for the next twenty-four hours."

Stiles nodded, "H-how long have I been out?" he asks, and god the doc should really work on his bedside manner, his pinched expression is not inspiring a lot of hope that Stiles if going to like the answer. It must have been weeks if his healing is anything to go by, and god his poor father, he is going to be a good son from now on he swears. Okay, he is going to really really try to be less of a horrible worry line forming son at least.

"Mr. Stilinski" the doctor pulls a stool out from beside the bed, taking a seat, and wow, this really does not look good. "The accident, it caused significant damage to your..."

"Stiles!" The door to the room suddenly bursts open, the sheriff standing still in the doorway. "St-Stiles" he whispers and suddenly he is smiling and rushing forward to take Stiles in his arms and Stiles has never been so happy for embarrassing dad hugs in his life, like ever. "I didn't think...I'd almost given up..." his father is saying as he hugs him and leans back tracing his big hands over Stiles' face.

"Hey, it's okay" Stiles smiles, "I'm alright."

"I'm sorry, I just..." and Stiles is shocked when he sees tears, genuine tears of happiness running down his father's face before he is being enveloped in his father's arms again.

Stiles lets himself be hugged, a bemused expression on his face until he looks up and meets Derek's gaze. The alpha is still, expression one of disbelief and he can tell that he's struggling not to shove the sheriff aside and just touch Stiles. Damn wolves are always so tactile. Stiles smiles at him and rolls his eyes which doesn't garner the usual look of annoyance. It's then that he notices the uniform. The deputy's uniform. The one that Derek Hale, one time accused murderer is wearing like he owns it, like he wears it every day. But he doesn't, Stiles knows he doesn't. Even if Derek had joined the force without telling him it would take months to go through the academy and the chances of his dad hiring him on after are slim to none. But he's wearing the uniform and it fits to a T, not meant for anyone without Derek's broad shoulders and trim waist. There is no one else in the Beacon Hills Sheriff's Department who could fit that uniform which means...which means he's been...

Stiles can feel his breath getting short and his chest seizing, and he knows the moment Derek understands what is happening because he is suddenly there, getting the sheriff to back off and urging Stiles to breathe, to just keep breathing. It's hard and all Stiles can do is shake his head as his heart rate starts soaring. "Can't...can't" he is chanting and he must look ridiculous but he can't help it, he's been in a coma, for a long time apparently and he doesn't know where he is or how long he's been here but he knows it's wrong and too long. Derek sits next to him rubbing a soothing hand down his spine and his father is squatting down in front of him trying to keep his attention and comforting him with a steady hand on his cheek and his forehead against his.

It takes a few minutes but he manages to slow his breathing down, and move his fingers that are clutching onto the shoulders of his dad's jacket. "H-how long?" he finally whispers.

"Two years, three months and four days" Derek answers and then Stiles cries until he falls asleep.

 

\--

 

In the two years, three months and eighteen days since Stiles has driven down the main street of Beacon Hills not much has changed, but then again everything has changed. The same buildings line the streets but now the old laundromat is a hip new boutique and the ice cream parlor shut down only to be reopened as a cupcake and coffee joint run by, of all people, Isaac who Stiles never even knew could bake. The Sheriff's office has a fresh coat of paint and of course a new deputy which Stiles still hasn't gotten his head around. Also his dad now knows everything about the pack and the supernatural things that seem to be drawn to Beacon Hills like flies to honey. So, there’s that.

Derek said the sheriff had needed something to focus on after it became apparent Stiles was not going to wake up anytime soon, There had been a lot of drinking and flying off the handle in the office before Derek stepped up and gave the sheriff a cause that may not have been the raising of his son, but did involve protecting his son's friends. Stiles wasn't sure how to thank Derek for that. He'd seen what his mother's death had done to his dad, it must have been ugly pulling him out of that hole.

The pack is meeting of course, tonight after Stiles is settled at home. He'd had to stay in the hospital for monitoring two weeks after he'd woken up. They were worried it was only a brief reprieve that something would happen and he'd fall back to sleep for good, but it wasn't and he didn't so here he is. Pulling up the front of his house and watching his father get out of the cruiser, walking around to open Stiles' door and hand him his cane. His physical therapy is going well, he's building back those muscles that have suffered from atrophied over the two years he spent in bed. He's doing well but the cane is an unfortunate necessity for now.

The house is clean when he gets inside which means Melissa McCall has probably been there. Other than that everything is exactly the same. Its comforting to see his X-men comics piled neatly on the coffee table and there are a pair of his chucks by the door as if he was just at Scott's sleeping over instead of in an extended stay hospital two towns over. It's nice, totally nice...except in all the ways that it's horrible and depressing because it means his father has been living with the ghost of his son for the last two years.

Stiles stops that train of thought in it's tracks because of all the things he needs right now another panic attack isn't one of them. They’ve come back strong, another lingering effect from his accident, overtaking him at unexpected times and with little to no warning. They are just as fun (read terrifying and embarrassing) as they were the first time around but Stiles is trying to take it slow and allow himself time to freak out. It’s not everyday you wake up and realize you’ve misplaced two years.

Stiles shrugs off his jacket by the door and resting his cane against the wall he reaches down to slip off his shoes. It's only moments before he hears someone rushing across the upstairs hall and down the stairs. Scott is running to him, scooping up his thin frame in his big werewolf paws and hugging him so tight that he can barely breathe. Which honestly, is sort of fine with Stiles. He hadn’t seen his friend while he was in the hospital, the only visitors that had been allowed being his father, and on occasion Derek when he drove him.

Scott sets him down after a few moments of what Scott probably thinks is subtle scenting, His eyes are glassy as he looks Stiles over and his smile is threatening to crumble at the sides, “Hi there” Stiles smirks and Scott just laughs though it sounds thick and broken.

“Don’t you ever...” Scott begins but he just brings Stiles back in wrapping him in his arms so that his forearms rest on his back and his nose is tucked into Stiles’ shoulder.

“Hey buddy, it’s fine. I’m here” Stiles mummbles, He’s been doing this a lot lately, reassuring people he’s okay, which is obviously what people should be doing for him, but somehow Stiles finds himself falling back into the role of caretaker he’d always held before his extended nap. (Coma just sounds so melodramatic.) He lets Scott cling to him until his leg buckles and he finds himself instinctively reaching for his cane. Scott guides them over to the sofa to sit, situating Stiles back against the cushions and laying a blanket over his lower half before leaning back himself and curling up on his side so that his head is lying on Stiles’ shoulder.

“When Derek told me you’d woken up I didn’t believe it.” Scott whispered.

“Well luckily for you it was true.” Stiles snorted. “I don’t know how you’ve survived this long without me but I can only assume that I’ve woken up just in time to prevent some major wolfie related disaster. I’m like the once and future dog whisperer.”

Scott, laughed bringing his head up so he could look Stiles in the eyes, “Dog jokes” he raised an eyebrow, “you’ve been asleep for two years and that’s what you’re going to start with?”

“Hey, don’t come at me with those Derek-esque eyebrows and expect me to change my ways just because of a little nap.” Scott just raised his other eyebrow, “See! I am gone for two years and he rubs all of his worst habits off on the pack, I can’t wait to see what tidbits poor Isaac has picked up living with the guy.”

“Isaac doesn’t live with Derek”

“He doesn’t?”

“Nope” Scott smiled, leaning back into the couch, “he met his twue lurve last year and moved in with her.”

“Really?”

“Yep”

“We’re talking about the same Isaac right? Curly hair, vulnerable, sometimes afraid of his own shadow.”

“He’s gotten better,” Scott shrugged, “and it’s pretty much impossible to be intimidated by Maggie. She calls everyone sugar and makes hot cocoa.”

“Is she eighty?”

“No” Scott smirks, “She’s from Louisiana, she’s just nice.”

“Huh” Stiles was happy for Isaac, he really was, the guy deserved some good in his life after the way things had started out for him. He’d always thought the curly haired pup had been the most deserving of the bite out of the betas, It was just weird to think that he’d come so far, He felt like he’d gone to sleep two weeks ago and woken up in a different world where Derek was a deputy and his father fought monsters and now Isaac was like wolf married or something and he hasn’t even met this woman. How can he know if she is good enough for him? How can his pack have moved on so completely without him there?

“Stiles, breathe” Scott said and yeah, that would probably be a good idea about now, he should probably have thought of that earlier, before his head started buzzing and his vision started to narrow.

“Sorry...sorry” Stiles wheezed pulling himself back to himself.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, no worries.” he smiled, though it was obvious Scott didn’t believe him, he let it go. “So...when is everyone getting here.”

“Not for a couple hours yet, I kind of stalked your dad until he told me what time you were getting home.”

“I’m touched” Stiles rolled his eyes, but it was obvious to both of them that he meant it. “So...what about you?”

“what about me?”

“Well I’m pretty sure we both know what I’ve been up to the last couple years,” Stiles choses to ignore the wounded look Scott shoots him, “what have you been up to, any new developments? Any young pups with curly dark hair and scarily accurate aim I should know about? Holy crap am I a uncle?!”

“No” Scott laughed, curling a hand around Stiles’ flailing arm, “Allison left for college a couple years ago, we did the long distance thing for a while but...”Scott shrugged.

“I’m sorry, man.”

“It’s fine, it was hard for a while, but I’ve moved on.”

“So anyone I should know about?” Stiles asked trying out his own version of the Derek eyebrow lift, he had a feeling he came off looking deranged if Scott’s expression was anything to go by.

“Nah,” Scott smirked, “I hung out with a vampire named Lisa for a while, but it just got a little weird.”

“Are you shitting me? Vampires?! I miss all the good stuff.”

“Not really, they’re just kind of pale and anemic, The legends are way overblown.”

Stiles smiled, it was good to be back. Even if Scott looked a little too angular and muscled like he’d finally outgrown all his baby fat and the couch he was sitting on was new and unfamiliar in the way it pulled at his body trying to get him to sink into the overly large cushions, anything was better than being at the hospital with Doctor Linares looming over him.

They talk for a few more minutes before Scott switches on the X-Box and they proceed to play some first person shooter that is probably ridiculously out of date.Stiles’ fingers fumble over the controls, not used to such delicate work anymore, he’s frustrated but resigned, He’s been working in PT to get motion back but for now he’s still limited. It doesn’t matter though because within minutes his eyes are slipping closed and Scott takes the controller before Stiles’ head slips back against the cushions.

 

He’s not sure how he got there, but when Stiles wakes up he’s in his bed, in the room he remembers leaving just days before but in reality has been much longer. He’s humiliated that Scott probably carried him up the stairs,kind of hopes he let his dad do it because if anyone has the right to hoist him over his shoulder it’s his father who has been doing it since he was a baby, but in reality he knows it was probably Scott seeing as his best friend is across the room snoozing in Stiles’ desk chair. He’s not sure how long he’s been asleep but the sun is still high in the sky so it couldn’t have been that long.

He stretches slowly bracing a hand against the raised scar that runs over his abdomen as he sits up. He’s just laid a hand on the toe of Scott’s shoe when the room seems to swim and spin all at once and he’s staring up at Scott. He’s confused because he can still feel Scott’s shoe under his hand and the Scott in front of him is yelling and his color is muted as if his body is in lower light than the rest of the room. He’s staring at something over Stiles’ shoulder, “We have to tell him!” the other Scott yells, “he deserves to know.”

“Why? So we can put him in danger too?” Derek steps from behind Stiles, his ghostly legs sliding through his bed on his way to confront Scott.

“He’s out of control Derek, you saw him today, we have to do something before he loses his job.” Scott pushed, “What would Stiles want you to do?” The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife, or something bigger, like, machete levels of tension.

“Stiles can’t want anything any more” the Alpha snarled before charging from the room.

The swimming sensation is back and suddenly Stiles is aware of the real Scott, which okay what the actual fuck, kneeling in front of him. “Stiles...” Scott is looking around wildly as if hoping help will appear, Stiles figures he has probably been out of it for a while watching the...the memory? That’s what it felt like, real and visceral but removed. He’s back though and breathing so at least he’s not having a panic attack, just visions...okay yeah this is probably bad. It’s probably like the first step of falling back into a comatose state like his doctor had been worried about. He blinks and Scott sees it, the tension bleeding from his shoulders, “Hey you with me?” Scott asks and Stiles just nods, not trusting himself to answer quite yet. “What was that? Has that happened before?”

Stiles doesn’t want to worry Scott, the guy looks like a frightened rabbit, which should seriously not even be possible. But there he is looking like Stiles is going to drift away any moment, he doesn’t need that guilt right now, “Yeah, no worries, just tired, you know?”

“Yeah, it’s just...”

“Okay then!” Stiles claps his hands rubbing them together as he pulls himself up from the bed. “What say you and I adjourn downstairs for some classic Stilinski pancakes?”

“Dude, it’s like 4 in the afternoon.”

“Scott, have you learned nothing from my tutelage over the years? There is never a wrong time for pancakes.“

So they go downstairs, Stiles starts getting out the ingredients for pancakes but realizes half way through that they are out of eggs and just ends up sitting at the counter and pouring himself some cereal. Scott for his part takes a seat across from him, his gaze not leaving Stiles for even a moment.It’s off-putting and if Stiles is going to be honest a bit creepy but he figures he should probably cut Scott some slack. If had been the other way around, Stiles losing his best friend for so long, he’s sure he’d be doing the same thing.

It’s almost an hour later when the pack starts arriving. Derek is there first, still in his uniform from working the whole day. He greets Stiles with a firm nod and a searching look he’s been sending Stiles’ way ever since he woke up, like he’s just waiting for him to fall back asleep and leave them all again. Boyd and Erica are next, the blonde surprising Stiles with a tight hug and glassy eyes. Boyd lays a heavy hand on his shoulder and squeezes slightly. It’s practically a sonnet coming from the stoic beta. Lydia and Jackson follow soon after, they are loaded down with designer luggage from their flight in from Massachusetts where Lydia is studying at MIT and Jackson is studying at the local university inbetween lacrosse games and stalking his mate around campus. Lydia cries, like ‘holy shit a girls is sobbing in front of me what do I do?!’ crying, and she hugs him tightly as Stiles looks around for help and pets her hair. The fact that Jackson is not ripping his arms off to beat him with is enough to indicate he’s missed Stiles as well. Lydia is berating him about his death trap of a jeep! when the door opens again and Isaac steps into the Stilinski living room carrying a large box of cupcakes and clutching the hand of a young curvy brunette with a pixie cut and a shy smile.

“Stiles” Isaac smiles as Stiles untangles himself from Lydia’s clutching limbs. He’s leaning on his cane as he makes his way over to his friend and his new mate.

“Hey man” Stiles greets, bringing him in for a hug before stepping back to examine the two of them, “I hear you got wolf-married while I was away. If these cupcakes are to make up for the lack of invite, I accept.” Isaac smirks and lets Stiles snatch the baked goods out of his hands. Stiles turns making his way slowly to the kitchen island to deposit the cupcakes on the counter before turning back to them. “seriously, when did you even learn to bake? Is this your doing?” he points to Isaac’s mate, “because I approve.”

The woman, Maggie, Scott had told him, chuckles and makes her way over to the counter, opening the box and reaching in. “Don’t say that until you try ‘em, sugar.” she drawls and Stiles instantly likes her. She seems warm and comfortable but with an edge of assertiveness that he thinks must be good for Isaac. “This is my favorite, she holds up a large cake with chocolate ganache layered over the frosting and sea salt decorating the top. “Salted caramel with dark chocolate swirl, believe me, you’re life will. be. changed.” she smirks.

Stiles bites in without hesitation and he would be totally embarrassed by the pornographic moan he lets out if the salt and holy jesus caramel buttercream frosting wasn’t mixing on his tongue in such an obscene way. “That’s it” Stiles mumbles through cake and chocolate bits, “run away with me.” A hand came down on his shoulder from behind and Stiles smiles up surprised to see Derek there instead of Isaac, but getting the message to stop the flirting, which of course only made him want to do it more.

Maggie gave him a considering look but smiled, “Sorry handsome but you’d only be using me for my baking prowess and I have too much self respect for that,” she sighed, “Plus I kind of promised to love Isaac forever and ever and all that jazz.” Isaac beamed from behind his mate and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Fine, have your loyalty,I will settle for free cupcakes” Stiles responded while stuffing the rest of the moist cake into his already full mouth.

“You are disgusting” Jackson drawled, “did you forget how to not eat like an animal while in the coma?” the room froze, the tension suddenly rocketing up a couple of notches before Stiles swallowed and burst out with a proper belly laugh.

“Says the lizard-man turned werewolf!” smiles to Derek who had apparently never let go of his shoulder, leaning back into his alpha’s chest.

Damn tactile wolves.

 

 


	2. The pack and dealing with a strange life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which Stiles gets back into the swing of things, featuring high-definition vision/memory things that are really getting on Stiles' nerves, physical therapy, getting asked out on a date and protective Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, real life got in the way! I've pretty much finished the last chapter, just cleaning it up so there should not be too much of a wait for it! :)

Stiles spends the next few days at home re-acclimating to life outside the hospital. It’ s hard being back at first. He keeps forgetting how much time had passed and finds himself calling the McCall house to reach Scott, only to be gently reminded by Melissa that Scott is twenty now and has his own apartment near the animal hospital where he is working full time as Deaton’s assistant.

Lydia helps, taking his mind of things by filling him in on all the drama that has happened while he’s been asleep. Apparently Scott and Allison’s break-up was not as zen as Scott tried to make him believe, Danny had bowed out of the pack after a particularly vicious omega put his family in danger, a point that was best not to bring up around Jackson who was still missing his best friend. Boyd and Erica were an item, news that was definitely not unexpected seeing as they’d been making goo-goo eyes at each other even before Stiles’ little accident.

That just left Derek really, who seems to have grown into his role as alpha only after Stiles was stuck in his perpetual power nap. Lydia won’t say much about him, which is annoying since she doesn’t hold back with any other details concerning the pack. All she will say is that he’d taken Stiles’ accident on himself, blamed himself, and only started to pull himself out of the shame spiral, Stiles’ words not hers, when it became apparent the sheriff needed someone to be there for him.

Of course, Lydia eventually has to head back to school seeing as it was still near the beginning of the semester and so she drags Jackson and her extravagant luggage to the airport with a promise to skype weekly and see him again over winter break. Which is actually just fine with him, Lydia made him feel normal but at the same time every time she mentioned MIT or some adventure Stiles wasn’t present for he couldn’t help but want to burrow under his blanket and not come out again until the world around him righted itself.

Two weeks after he returned home Stiles wakes up in the middle of the night to see Derek sliding in through his bedroom window. “You know my dad knows about werewolves now, I don’t think you really need to keep coming in through the window like a creeper.” Derek startles as if he hadn’t realized Stiles was awake and stumbles the rest of the way through the window righting himself at the last minute before he hits the floor. “Uh....” Stiles sits up, it wasn’t every day you got the drop on an alpha.

“Sorry” Derek mumbles, making his way over to Stiles’ computer chair and taking a seat.

“So...should I ask what you’re doing here or is this something we’re not talking about?”

“Go to sleep Stiles”

Stiles huffs, falling back down onto his bed and fluffing his pillows with more force than is probably necessary. He could say something he supposes but it seems more effort than it was worth. If Derek wants to sit there like the stalker he most certainly is, then so be it. It’s not like Stiles cares, nope, not at all, zero caring over here, okay? He is fine with this, it’s not like he is bothered by not knowing what Derek wants, Nu-uh certainly not, Stiles is cool and collected and not at all wishing Derek would just move a little closer. It isn’t like wanting to cuddle Derek is weird, they did that from time to time,  they were part of a pack, puppy piles have been pretty common place the last couple of weeks what with Stiles coming back from the practically dead and all that. It’s a comfort thing. Yep.

“Stop.” Derek growls.

“Stop what?”

“Thinking so loud.”

“Hey you can’t just sneak in here to watch me sleep and expect me to not have some serious questions okay?”

“Why not? It’s not like it’s the first time.”

“Okay, that’s not creepy.” Stiles sits up, flipping on the lamp next to his bed.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh getting up?” He says as he grabs his cane, “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“You need rest” Derek growls again, making his way over to the bed.

“Yeah” Stiles scoffs, “I have been resting since I woke up...” the room is swimming and twisting suddenly as Derek’s hand comes down to grip his elbow and what started as a gentle touch now keeping him from crashing to the floor. His vision is blurring and his head pounding until suddenly the room is still. However It is also on fire. Like we’re talking engulfed in flames, and he can hear something.

It takes second for him to identify the sound, it’s a roar. It’s quiet at first and Stiles is too concerned about the smoke stinging his eyes and the flames surrounding him, leaving him without an escape route to really seek out where its coming from, His heart rate is soaring and the anguished horrible growl sounds again as the door to his left bursts open.  It’s Derek, of course it is, but it’s not his Derek. This Derek is young, lean limbs and wide eyes snarling at the doorway looking for a way through the flames. He can’t be more than sixteen and his blue eyes are searching the room walking through the flames even as his skin burns.

“Derek!” a voice yells and suddenly a woman is there, grabbing Derek and pulling him back.

“We have to get them!” Derek screams, but the girl is crying and pulling him back.

“They’re gone Derek, listen their hearts...they’re gone” She keeps pulling.

“No!” the girl screams, Laura it has to be Laura, is suddenly clutching at her chest and stumbling back. Derek reaches out for her as she falls, just managing to get a hold as she slips to the floor. Her hair sweeps to the side as she turns towards Stiles. Her limbs are flailing and as she seizes a ring slips from her finger rolling quietly along the sooty wooden floor towards Stiles and underneath a bookcase beside him..  She follows the ring’s path towards him as her body calming slightly. She’s not far away, only ten feet or so and it’s all Stiles can do not to reach out towards her. She seizes one last time and whimpers before turning her head towards the burning ceiling and howling.

When she looks back at him her eyes are red.

“..iles! Stiles, can you hear me? Please...Stiles!” Derek’s arms are around him, and he’s on the floor, his head resting on Derek’s shoulder and his body sitting in the alpha’s lap.

“Wh..” his lungs feel like they’re burning, “I didn’t know you were in the house…”

“What?”

““What happened?”

“I don’t...you just...what the hell...what was that Stiles?”

“Hey, no worries just tired like you said.” Stiles bluffs because he is so not ready to face this. Especially not in front of Derek who he is pretty sure would not want him knowing that stuff. That is if it was real, it felt real, but how could it be? Stiles is a pretty rational guy, he may be 147 pounds of sarcasm wrapped up in pale skin and fragile bone but even he knows that having visions of the past isn’t something that just happens. At least not without some strong smelling salts and a heater.

“Stiles you didn’t fall asleep, you collapsed,” Derek held Stiles’ face in his large palm checking him over, “you were catatonic for a full two minutes. I was about to rush you to the hospital.”

“Well good thing you didn’t, I am fine see” Stiles motioned weakly to himself, which okay he was still being cradled by Derek on the floor, and his head felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to it, but hey he was awake and talking.

“You are not fine, I am taking you to the hospital.”

“What? No!’ Stiles struggles his way to his feet, grabbing the cane beside his bed to steady himself.

“This is not up for discussion.”

“Like hell it isn’t.”

“Stiles...”

“No you know what, no. I am fine.

“No you’re not.” Derek growls.

“I am” Stiles fumes, feeling himself going from confused and weary to angry in seconds flat as Derek tries to cowl him like one of his Betas.

“You’re not! That isn’t normal Stiles and we can’t…”

“Can’t what?”

“Lose you again, you idiot!” Stiles stills, not used to that amount of straightforward honesty coming from Derek. “Do-don’t you know how...we can’t. We can’t do it again”

“Okay,” Stiles calmed, seeing the hurt expression on the older man’s face, “okay.” Stiles lets his cane drop to the side and pulls Derek up to sit beside him on the bed. “I just don’t want it to be something bad.” Stiles whispers.

“This has happened before.” Derek says, not asking.

“With Scott,” Stiles nods, clutching at Derek’s large hand that he can’t seem to let go of. “I don’t know what’s happening...it’s not just blacking out, I see things. Things that I shouldn’t know and I...they feel real.”

“What did you see just now?”

“You won’t like it,”

“I don’t like any of this.”

So Stiles tells him about the fire and seeing his sister come into her Alpha powers and about the argument between him and Scott and Derek confirms that both those things happened the way he said but reserves his judgement as to whether what he’s seeing are actual memories instead of some manifestation of stories people may have told him while he was in his coma. Stiles appreciates it, his reservation makes him feel less like he’s falling apart at the seams with a power he can’t understand. It’s not until Stiles visits the Hale house and pulls out a ring from under a charred black bookcase that they both accept that it’s really happening.

Derek suggests that they tell the pack, but Stiles resists. They are already handling him with kid gloves, like one wrong move could send him back to the extended stay hospital. He doesn’t want this, whatever it is, to make them keep their distance. Derek agrees, but doesn’t like it. Apparently secrets aren’t something he really likes to keep anymore, go figure.

 

 

Stiles goes on acting like everything is normal.He hangs out with the pack, helps Scott study and starts the paperwork to finish his GED online. Missing the end of his senior year sucks when all of your friends are in college and you’re still working your way through the last semester of AP US History. He continues with his physical therapy too.

His therapist is a nice guy named Jordan who may or may not have a little crush on Stiles. Stiles works hard on his core strength and fine motor functions but he’s not dead. Jordan is tall, blonde hair and striking blue eyes, which honestly aren’t usually his thing, but he’s got a killer smile and is free with the compliments when Stiles works hard. It’s understandable to develop a little interest.

Jordan smiles as he runs Stiles through a series of drills, tossing a large blue medicine ball back and forward between them as they skip sideways separated by a row of mats on the floor. It’s still slow going, Stiles’ left knee in particular does not like to follow instructions, but they manage around four trips up and down the mats before Stiles collapses. He can see Derek in the corner jerk to his feet but Stiles waves him off. The Alpha has been a little overprotective lately, staying to lurk in the corner when his dad is too busy at the station to take him to PT.

“You okay there?” Jordan asks, taking a seat across from where Stiles has landed on the mat.

“Yeah sure” he wheezes, “just down here looking for my dignity.”

Derek huffs a small laugh which causes the doctor to frown, “Hey don’t do that to yourself, you’re making excellent progress.” he says, “It takes time to retrain muscles. You were in that bed for a long time.” he reaches out putting a hand on Stiles’ extended leg and giving him a soft sweet smile, “No one expects you to be running marathons tomorrow.”

Stiles turns as he hears the door to the therapy room close. Derek must have gotten bored, not that he can blame him. Watching Stiles sweat his ass off doing simple tasks is probably not the highlight of the guy’s day.

“What’s with the guy anyway?” Jordan asks as he gets to his feet and offers Stiles a hand up.

“Who, Derek?”

“Yeah, I mean I get that he drives you to these appointments when the sheriff can’t but he seems kind of…”

“Annoyed? Angry? Sour?” Stiles suggests.

“Among other things.”

“He’s harmless” Stiles smirks, because A) it’s so far from the truth it’s not even funny and B) at the same time it kind of is, at least to the pack. Derek would never hurt them.

“If you say so.” Jordan shrugs leading Stiles over to the stationary bike.

“Are you serious?” he whines. “Did you not notice my knee giving out over there?”

“Tell you what, you get on this bike” the doctor says patting the seat, “make it one mile and I’ll make sure you get a prize.”

“What kind of prize?” Stiles asks as he slides onto the seat and beginning to pedal, “I’ll have you know I’m not some kid you can con with a shiny sticker like at the dentist’s office.”

“I was thinking more like dinner.”

Stiles’ foot slips sending him face forward towards the handle bars, only catching himself at the last moment. “Wh-what? You mean like a date?”

“Like a date” Jordan nods.

“Okay” Stiles nods, still a little shocked, flirting was one thing, someone actually taking the opportunity to ask him out? That was new. “Bike, prepare to meet your match.”

 

\--

 

Derek is waiting in the car for him when Stiles finally leaves physical therapy, mile conquered and date confirmed. Would you look at that, barely ten am and already he’s accomplished more that he has in the last week. Who knows maybe he’ll even get a chance to do something about the old v-card he has lying around.

Stiles smiles as he leans heavily on his cane, the PT always leaves him exhausted. Climbing into the car, he sits down heavily and leans back into the seat letting out a sigh. “Where did you run off to?” Derek doesn’t answer but aims an unimpressed look Stiles’ way.

“What?”

“You stink.”

“Well you try going through an hour of strenuous physical activity on a bum...everything and see how you smell princess.” Derek’s eyes flash red and damn,okay the guy really hates Stiles’ man sweat getting all over the interior of his baby. But dude, this is not the first time he’s driven him, if he hates it so much he could put down a towel or something.

The Alpha says nothing yet again but starts the car and speeds off towards home. They’re almost to Stiles’ house when Derek clears his throat, “Erica and Maggie were talking about having people over to the loft later, if you want to come.”

“Uh yeah sure,” Stiles nods, because any excuse to hang out with the pack and avoid his online Chemistry class is good enough for him.

“Good” Derek nods, pulling up to the curb outside casa Stilinski, “I’ll pick you up at eight.”

“Sounds good,” Stiles nods grabbing his cane from where its resting against the dash. “Should I bring something?”

“No don’t worry about it, you know Isaac always brings all the leftover baked goods from the shop.” Stiles nods, opening the door to step out and placing his cane on the ground outside the car. Before he can push himself up though Derek is there steadying him.

“Uh thanks” Stiles says, looking up into Derek’s concerned face. It’s really not fair, he thinks, that Derek can be like this one second when moments before he was being a douche about Stiles’ sweat touching the upholstery. But this is kind of how he’s always been, king of mixed signals, and if it was frustrating before the crash it’s even more so now. Now that Derek is putting so much effort into making sure Stiles is okay and that he’s able to be there for him whenever his father isn’t.

Stiles pushes away from the car, making his way slowly towards the house, Derek in stride beside him. Stiles has been really good, he thinks, not taking advantage of Derek’s helpfulness and keeping his desires at bay. He’s done his best not to read too much into the alpha’s behavior. Any lingering touches are simply meant for support, his overwhelming concern is only guilt from letting Stiles get hurt in the first place. He tells himself that, over and over, like a mantra and he makes himself believe it. He has to believe it, because the only other option would be that Derek might feel the same way about him as he does about Derek and Stiles just isn’t brave enough to take that chance.

“So I’ll be back to pick you up around eight, be ready.”

“Sure” Stiles nods, stopping at the front door. Derek waits until Stiles unlocks it before patting him on the back and making his way back to the camaro.

Stiles isn’t sure exactly when he started noticing Derek in that way but he’s pretty sure it was sometime between Junior year of high school and the first time Derek volunteered to help him with his physical therapy exercises. Something about those biceps  flexing as he helped Stiles bend and raise his leg definitely caught his attention.

Stiles walks slowly, making his way up the stairs to his room carefully. It was probably a good thing Jordan had asked him out, Stiles didn’t want to make things awkward between him and Derek and lets be honest, they would be if Derek ever found out about his very inconvenient feelings. Jordan was nice enough, maybe a bit on the boring side, but that could just be because Stiles hasn’t seen him outside of work yet. At the very least he could serve as a very welcome distraction.

Stiles sighs as he leans his cane against the wall. his muscles ache. The PT, though helpful, leaves him bone tired. He slips his shirt off slowly dropping it on the floor before making his way to the bathroom to shower. Turning the taps, he sets the water to warm before sitting down heavily on the toilet to rid himself of his shoes and socks. he cannot wait until climbing the stairs no longer leaves him winded. Once undressed Stiles gingerly raises his leg over the tub’s edge and gets under the now warm water.

Letting his muscles relax under the firm spray, Stiles can’t help but think about his date. He has a date! Him, Stiles Stilinski, has an actual date. Stiles smiles as he lathers the fragrance-free body wash into his sticky skin. Jordan is a nice guy and no one can argue he isn’t handsome. Those strong rounded shoulders, his dirty blonde hair that just slightly moves into his eyes when he looks down and those bright blue eyes. Yeah, Stiles could definitely get into some trouble with him.

Stiles’ hands move down over his chest, sliding over his hips and raising goosebumps as he goes. It has been a while since he’s had any alone time. The hospital offered no privacy and ever since he’s been home there has been someone around watching over him. The quiet house now suddenly seems like a blessing, especially when Stiles’ hands make their way further down. ‘Oh god, yes’ he thinks as he palms his rising cock. he needs this, some release from the tension of constantly being on guard, waiting for the next “vision” or the next person to ask him how he was feeling. Stiles grips himself carefully, picturing Jordan kneeling in the shower, reaching out to take Stiles’ cock into his mouth. He stroks himself slowly, letting his mind focus on his fantasy, taking his time while he can. He can imagine Jordan’s soft lips as his head slips past them, entering the moist heat of his mouth. Stiles’ braces himself on the shower wall in front of him, stripping his cock faster as he imagines Jordan’s tongue circling the tip. He moans as he envisions Jordan taking him in further, deep throating him until his mouth reaches the base and he can rub his stubble along Stiles’ thighs as he suckles up and down.Stiles’ rhythm stutters as he watches the face in his fantasy change, stubble lining the cheeks lengthening and darkening, cheekbones becoming more pronounced as the hair receded into the all too familiar length that Stiles longed to run his hands through. Hooded hazel eyes peer up at him in his imagination as Stiles’ cock slides from between sinful lips. The vision is like a punch to the gut and Stiles comes fast and hard, cum splattering against warm tile with Derek’s name on his lips.

 

\--

 

The gathering that night is simple. Maggie and Erica seem to be the best of friends, forming an unlikely yet effective alliance comprised of baked pastry and badassery with sarcasm sprinkled all around. Together they effectively rustle all of them into setting the table for dinner. Yeah, an actual meal not coming from a pizza box at Derek’s loft, Stiles was surprised too. He was also surprised when he arrives to find the once derelict loft now tastefully yet masculinely decorated. Large comfortable sectional lying front of a huge television which Stiles may or may not have designs on that included a Marvel movie marathon. But the loft isn’t just essentials like a couch and dining table. There were rugs, plural, a rustic coffee table, bookcases, kitchen appliances, curtains. Lydia must have taken Derek shopping at some point, it was the only explanation for the Home and Gardens bachelor pad the place had transformed into. Were those bamboo floors?

“Come on, sugar” Maggie grabs Stiles’ shoulder dragging him towards the open kitchen, “I hear you’re a pretty good cook and I could use the help.”

“And where is your husband?” Stiles asks, though secretly he’s happy to feel useful, “I thought he was all up on this culinary stuff now.”

“Oh Isaac can bake and make espresso like nobody’s business, but I think when it comes to more intricate details of actually preparing a meal, it’s best left to us.”

“Hey, I can cook!” Isaac calls.

“Sure you can, darlin’.”

Isaac grumbles as he goes back to placing the silverware beside each plate. Boyd laughing and mentioning something about chicken nuggets and fire. It is comfortable, the pack being together, not like it was before he’d gotten injured. It is more like family now, each member obviously content to be together. They had only begun to form a cohesive group last he remembered, still fighting over who was in charge or who had the best plan to defeat whatever was threatening them on any given week. It’s odd to see them like this, in this place, but Stiles can’t help but think, as he sits his cane aside and begins chopping mushrooms, that whatever brought them together must have been big. He hates that he’d missed whatever it was but it’s also nice to be able to wake up to this.

Stiles reaches out, taking a bowl from Maggie, casually brushing their fingers before he scoops the mushrooms from the cutting board into the bowl. His hands are a little shaky and suddenly he feels the  room begin to spin as he clutches on to the counter trying to right himself. The crash of the ceramic bowl echoes through the room as his heart palpitates  within his chest and his knees begin to buckle.He can hear Maggie calling to him but she sounds far off, her voice muted under the rushing of blood in his ears. His trip from the counter to the floor is quick, Stiles landing awkwardly on his back in the overgrown grass.

Wait... Stiles breathes deeply centering himself, before opening his eyes.It’s night, that is the first thing that registers in his throbbing head. He’s outside,the night air cool against his sweaty skin and the stars shining intensely overhead like they never do in the city, or even larger suburbs like Beacon Hills. The colors are once again muted, just like the other memories he’s seen, but this seems much more intense. In the others he could still tell he was at home, he felt the tip of Scott’s shoe beneath his hand or the impression of Derek’s chest behind him. Now feels different though, like he’s been transported somewhere else entirely.

He stands slowly, allowing himself a second to get his bearings. He can hear voices, faint but close and as he turns he can tell that they are coming from inside a ramshackle house he’s landed near. He can’t decide whether to go towards the noise or run away as fast as his quaking legs can carry him, but before he can move the decision is made for him. An unsturdy door slams against the peeling side of the house as a group of burly men lead two people out into the night. Stiles can’t see them very well at first, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that these guys are hunters; black fatigues, big guns and smug looks of moral superiority give it away. They walk towards him, lining up their two captives as Stiles looks on horrified. It’ Maggie, she is younger and her hair is longer but there is no mistaking her, and next to her...well actually he isn’t sure which one is Maggie because the girl next to her looks exactly the same, right down to the small constellation of freckles that dot the skin below their left eyes.

Stiles feels sick as he rushes forward, this is going to be bad, he just knows it.

He isn’t wrong, Stiles looks on helplessly as one of the girls burst forward shouting “Maggie run!” and the other twin wolfs out, blood red eyes shining as she attacks the hunters. She shouts continuing to urge Maggie away but she refuses to budge. Instead Stiles watches as his new packmate leaps forward, teeth sinking into the neck of one of the men. His pained scream only echoing for a moment in the still night while the other men focus on Maggie’s sister whose alpha strength is threatening to overcome them. Maggie lets the hunter drop from her grip, turning to join her twin in the fight when a shot rings out. Stiles watches helplessly as Maggie roars before falling slowly to the ground.

“NO!” the other twin screams, focusing on the hunter who has suddenly joined them from the house, the barrel of his gun smoking from the expired shot.

Stiles ran, shocked out of his stillness, towards Maggie. There’s a perfect hole over her right breast, and blood is already pooling under her. “Shit, shit shit…” Stiles whispers, unable to do anything, his hands sliding through the image of Maggie on the ground. This is just a memory but everything in Stiles is screaming out to protect, to help.

“Maggie!” Stiles turns as the hunters subdue the other twin, Her hands held behind her back as her body bows towards her injured sister. “I’ll kill you!” she sneers, “Maggie!”

the hunters waste no time, wrapping the alpha in rope, Stiles can smell the wolfsbane from where he’s kneeling beside Maggie. “Should we take the beta?” one of the men asks.

“Don’t you touch her!” The girl yells, struggling, even as the effects of the wolfsbane start to leach her strength away.

“No, we’re only paid for alphas. Blackwater won’t care about her, better not to waste the resources.” The man who’s obviously in charge says as the alpha finally sinks back into his arms sucumbing to the effects of the wolfsbane.

“What do you think they do with them anyway?”

“Who cares?” The leader answers as he lifts the alpha into the back of a black SUV, “As long as they pay us Blackwater can keep their secrets. I’ll tell you what though, I’d hate to be on their bad side.”

 

“Stiles!...STILES!” Stiles gasps, sitting up quickly, light stinging his eyes. He’s on the floor of Derek’s kitchen, the pack leaning over him with wide eyes. “What happened?” Maggie asks.

“Nothing…”

“Dude, that was not nothing, it was like the other day but worse!” Scott’s arms wrap around him, helping him off the floor. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Lie” Boyd says, the traitor,  crossing his arms as Scott gets him situated on a stool by the kitchen island.

“Okay, I may have fainted, and I have a bitch of a headache, but I’m okay.”

“We need to get you to the hospital” Scott says, reaching for Stiles’ cane. Stiles looks towards Derek, he doesn’t want to go, can’t stand the thought of being kept in the hospital again, but he isn’t ready to tell the pack what’s going on just yet either.

Luckily Derek seems to agree and stepping forward. “Just give him some room, guys.” Derek says, “The doctor said he might be some after effects of the coma. He just needs to relax.” If anyone catches the lie they don’t say anything, seemingly content to think that nothing serious is wrong. They all nod in agreement, slowly going back to their previous positions, setting the table or preparing the meal, Isaac taking over for Stiles under Maggie’s supervision.

Stiles sighs, hands shaking from the feelings of terror and helplessness the vision left him with. “Are you sure, you’re okay?” Scott asks.

“Yeah, dude, just a minor setback, I’ll be right as rain in no time.” He smiles, clapping a hand on Scott’s shoulder.

“But you’ll tell me if something is wrong right?”

“I promise, if I feel like something is going to land me back in the hospital, I’ll let you know.” Scott seems appeased and Stiles only feels somewhat guilty before he leaves to argue with Erica over seating arrangements.

“Come on” Stiles jerks, surprised to find Derek still at his side.

“Way to sneak up on the crippled kid.” he said, grabbing his chest.

“Shut up” Derek rolls his eyes pulling out some tylenol which Stiles swallows dry before putting an arm around him and helping him up from his seat at the counter.

They end up in Derek’s room, apparently Stiles had managed to spill not only mushrooms all over his shirt, but the marinade Maggie had been preparing as well. Derek throws him one of his old t-shirts, soft and loose from frequent wearing. Stiles can’t help but shiver as he slides it over his head, the smell of Derek surrounding him. The shirt is a bit big, particularly around the shoulders and chest where Derek’s muscles have stretched it out, but being wrapped up in something of Derek’s makes him feel comfortable and safe.

“What did you see?” Derek asks as Stiles settles himself on the edge of the bed.

“Maggie” He admits, “She has a twin, did you know that?”

“Had.”

“What?”

“She _had_ a twin, she was killed a year ago, right before she came to Beacon Hills.”

“No, I mean, at least I think...I think she’s still alive.” Derek’s eyes widen but he remains silent, “The men that took her, they were talking about handing her over to some organization. Black River, no not Black River…”

“Blackwater?”

“Yeah that’s the one, but they said they only needed the alpha, that they would only get paid for her. Wait, how did you know that?”

“There are rumors, Blackwater is a paramilitary organization, contractors usually sent into  war zones with countries like the US are short on troops. I’ve heard from surrounding packs that an organization going by that name has been taking alphas. I didn’t realize that was who had been after Mags and Elsa though.”

“Should we tell her?”

Derek sighs, running a hand over his face “Not tonight, we need to get some more information, let me reach out to my contacts. We can’t have Maggie running off to rescue her sister before we have some solid leads.” Stiles nods, leaning into Derek as he sits down next to him. He knows the alpha is right, but he still hates keeping things from the pack.

“We’ll figure this out.” Derek says, wrapping an arm around Stiles’ back. It’s weird how comforting the action is, not to mention the fact that Derek is doing it in the first place. Stiles has noticed that the alpha had become more tactile, but this felt different. More intimate, or maybe that was just Stiles brain still high off his first good orgasm in years with Derek’s name on his lips. Derek rubs a hand down Stiles’ back and he feels his dick jump. He sits up quickly, trying to get some distance before he truly embarrasses himself.

“We should probably get back downstairs.” Derek doesn’t say anything but he does stand, handing Stiles his cane and ushers him down the stairs and back to the pack.

Dinner is vegetable lasagne which Maggie somehow made in a large cast iron skillet in half the time it would have taken in the oven. It’s heavenly. Stiles helped making the garlic toast after he assured everyone again he was okay.It was nice feeling like he could do something again.

He sits between Scott and Derek and across from Erica who does her best to keep the conversation going.

“So Mags and I were thinking about taking a pack trip to the coast this weekend,” Erica says scooping another helping of lasagne onto her plate, “What do you think gang? We can sit on the beach, terrorize the locals, get kicked out of the chinese buffet, the works!”

“I could be down for that” Scott agrees.

“For sure” Boyd nods.

“What do you think, Stiles?”

“Uh…”

“Stiles can’t go” Derek interjects.

“What do you mean Stiles can’t go?” Scott asks, obviously ready to stand up for him.

“He’s got plans” Derek answers stabbing another piece of pasta.

“how did you know…” Stiles begins, “Well yeah, I mean I have a date on Saturday so I probably won’t be able to make it.”

The room seems to freeze,

“A date?”  Maggie asks, shooting an awkward glance at Derek for some reason. “With who?”

“Uh, Jordan, he’s my Physical therapist.”

“Is that appropriate? Dating a patient?” Isaac asks, sipping from his water glass.

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters, he could be taking advantage of you.” Erica says

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?” Erica asks, trying to look innocent but Stiles knows better.

“None of your business, that’s what it’s like.”

“Stiles, she’s just trying to look out for you.” Scott says from his side.

“I’m an adult Scott.”

“An adult who has been in a coma for two years and is just starting to get readjusted” Isaac interjects.

“Oh thanks Isaac,you know I’d almost forgot about the whole waking up two years in the fucking future without the appropriate use of my body thing.”

“Stiles calm down.” Scott says resting a hand on his shoulder.

“No, I don’t even know why we’re discussing this like it’s something I need the pack’s blessing on.”

“Sti-”

“He’s right” Derek cuts in, “Stiles is an adult, he can date who he wants.” Erica looks like she’s about to argue but Derek raises an eyebrow and she backs off. “Maybe we could take a trip out to the coast next weekend?” There is a moment of silence and then the table is once again full of overlapping voices, this time planning out the particulars of the trip.

Stiles is pretty sure he heard something about tattoos and a blowtorch, he can only hope those two things did not go together. ( He would later find out that they did and was thankful that Derek was there to catch him as he swooned in a no doubt very manly fashion.)

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave comments.
> 
> Also my tumblr full of the prompts I can't find time to write is below! If you have the time you can find them here: http://killedthequeen.tumblr.com/tagged/fic-prompt


	3. In which we reach our conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbetad, mistakes are my own.

Two days later and Stiles is dressed in his nicest black button up and skinny jeans as he sits across from Jordan at a local restaurant. The place is a little pretentious, upscale furnishings meant to look worn and dated to go with the artsy motif, but the food is good and Jordan is nice. They’ve already covered their friends and family (Jordan has a best friend named Jeff and a sister named Staci with an i as well as two parents he doesn’t talk to due to his choice to be an out gay man), what Stiles is hoping to do after he finished his GED (no freaking clue), and whether baseball or football is the superior sport. Jordan chose football and Stiles’ opinion of him may have dropped just slightly. He wonders what Derek would pick…

Stiles checks his phone again, Derek is supposed to be meeting with some of his alpha connections via skype that night (yeah the dude knows how to use skype now, would wonders never cease?) and Stiles is anxious to hear how it went. He’s looking for information on Blackwater, specifically their patterns and chances of Maggie’s sister still being alive after being handed over.

“Everything okay?” Jordan asks.

“Uh yeah, yeah, sorry” Stiles answers, storing his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry, just waiting on some news from a friend.”

“No problem” Jordan smiles as their waiter sits down their deserts. “So tell me more about you, what are you into?”

occult mythology and obtuse alpha werewolves with five o’clock shadows, he thinks, but instead answers with,  “Uh I don’t know, the usual? I’m kind of a geek, I like comic books, specifically Marvel with the exception of Batman who is hands down the best. I think Joss Whedon is a god among men and I have a habit of generally spending a lot of time combing through Wikipedia which usually ends with more knowledge of the sexual perversions of historical figures than one could possibly need.”

“You’re funny” Jordan smiles, but doesn’t laugh, ugh, Stiles thinks.

“How about you?”

“Well, I’m a physical therapist, so obviously I like to work out, I probably go to the gym five times a week or so. Then there’s my garden, I’m really into like growing my own produce and stuff, it’s healthy and I grew up doing it, so it’s something I enjoy.”

“So nothing much in common there”

“Well I love The Walking Dead, that’s kind of geeky right?” Jordan smirks.

“depends did you read the graphic novels?”

“No.”

“Well then it’s a little mainstream, but we can work with it.” Stiles smiles, sure they don’t seem to share many passions, but not every first date has to be perfect and not every couple has to like the same stuff. Surely that would get boring, right? The sound of a arrow whistling through the air and a voice saying “message for you sir” alerts Stiles to a new text and he smiles remembering Derek making him watch Monty Python after his last physical therapy appointment.

OUTLOOK ELSA STILL ALIVE GOOD, The message reads.

Stiles tries hard to hold in his laughter, Who types like that? All caps, no punctuation. Are you a caveman?  He sends.

“Good news?”

“Yeah,” Stiles says, “outlook good.”

“I’m glad to hear it. So, Stiles, you mentioned your dad, but you haven’t told me a lot about your friends, you seem close.” He motions to Stiles’ pocket where is phone laying against his thigh.

“Yeah, we are. I mean we all kind of went through a lot together in high school and most of them are still living locally, so I’ve kind of fallen back into things.”

“How’s that going?”

“It’s weird...? I mean they’re all the same, but they’re adults now, they get along better, Derek has FURNITURE.”

“Derek? You mean deputy Hale? The one who brings you to PT sometimes?”

“Yep, that’s him.”

“He seems a lot older than you.”

“Five years I think? But he was kind of a staple before I had my accident, helped us all through a lot of really scary crap, in his own way of course.”

“Yeah, he seems a bit standoffish.”

“He used to be, I think now he’s just kind of quietly content, he speaks up when he needs to But mostly he just kind of fills the strong silent quotient for the group. Well, him and Boyd.” Stiles answers, getting distracted when his phone sounds again with a new message.

ITS EFFICIENT CALL OVER SOON SHOULD I COME BY Y/N

“Sourwolf” Stiles murmurs as he types his reply, Still with Jordan, I’ll stop by the loft on my way home.

There are no more texts from Derek after that and Stiles puts his phone away and digs into his strawberry cheesecake with gusto as Jordan and he exchange more polite conversation. It’s an okay first date, as far as Stiles can tell, this is his first one after all. They finish their desserts and head out, standing awkwardly by their cars.

“So this was fun.” Jordan says.

“Yeah, we...should do it again some time.”

“I’d like that, Wednesday? I have a late PT appointment with a cute brunette, maybe he could have his grumpy friend just drop him off and we could do something after?”

“Sure.” Stiles nods, hands stuck in his front pockets “Sounds doable.”

“We’ll see.” the blonde winks as he slides into his car and shuts the door. Wow, so that is what getting blatantly hit on feels like. Stiles blushes but waves as Jordan backs out of his spot and drives off. He could get used to that kind of attention.

John Cleese’s voice sounds again and Stiles reaches into his pocket for his phone, STILL COMING? the text says. Stiles tries not to be proud that Derek has included a question mark.

 

\--

 

It turns out that Blackwater is a bit sloppy when it comes to covering their tracks from those with supernatural tracking abilities. After Derek had collected information from the other Alphas it took a short time for the pack to track them down. Of course before they could do that Derek and Stiles had to explain how it was they knew Maggie’s sister Elsa was still alive in the first place.So, after two months of vision induced headaches they gathered the pack and Stiles’ dad to let the cat out of the bag about his new found “power”. They were initially disappointed that he hadn’t told them sooner, but overall understood that he just wanted a chance to get his legs back under him after the accident. His father had been keeping a closer eye on him though and Scott wore his patented wounded puppy-dog face for 48 hours before Derek told him to knock off the passive aggressive bullshit. They also started planning.

It’s decided early on that Stiles is to be left out of the actual storming of the Blackwater base. They need to be in and out quickly and “no offense Stiles but you’re hobbling around like a little old lady right now” Erica delicately points out. Stiles agrees but insists on being kept in the loop the entire time. Maggie is a mess the first hour after they tell her the news that her sister could still be alive but has probably been subjected to some ugly experimenting or brainwashing for the last year. She curls up in the loft’s only guest room and refuses to come out, even for Isaac. When she finally did emerge hours later, she was a force to be reckoned with.

It’s the night before the pack is set to head out, the base they tracked down is located in Oregon, a few hours ride away and they’re all sleeping over at the loft so they can get an early start. They are gatherd in the living room to watch The Last Crusade because it’s a classic and Stiles like the library scene, when Jordan starts texting him. It’s on vibrate though so only Scott notices when he moves to pull it out of his pocket and only then because Stiles’ legs are resting over his lap where they’re monopolising the couch.

Can’t wait to see you Friday, the text from Jordan says. Stiles wishes that made him happy, thinks a gorgeous guy being excited to see him should make him happy, but they’ve been on three dates now and he’s still not feeling anything. There’s no spark, nothing that draws his attention or keeps him engaged when they have a conversation. He’s told himself to give them more time, that relationships aren’t built overnight but no matter how hard he tries to keep an open mind he can’t help wishing Jordan was someone else. Yeah, me too, he texts back.

Across the room Derek adjusts his back in his chair looking intently at the movie as Indiana Jones argued with his father “We called the dog Indiana!” Derek’s lips form the words as they’re were said on screen. Stiles can’t keep the smile from his face, he is never going to be happy, he is never going to be happy because  Derek Hale has officially ruined him for other people.

Stiles’ leg makes its dislike of it’s current position known suddenly, a dull pain building rapidly, probably from neglecting his PT exercises that morning, He manages to get himself to his feet without alerting anyone to his pain, Scott passing him his cane on reflex.

“Where are you going?” Scott whispers.

“I just drank a whole two liter of Mountain Dew, dude. Where do you think I’m going?” Stiles rolls his eyes.

He makes his way through the kitchen towards the bathroom steadily, but takes a left instead of a right, away from the bathroom and into Derek’s study. He allows himself to hobble more as he reaches for the back of Derek’s desk chair, quickly taking a seat. His muscles are tensing as he digs his fingers into the flesh, trying to massage away the stiffness and pain. He supposes this is what he gets when he shirks his morning exercises to play Mass Effect with Scott.

“You okay, chere?” Maggie asks, making her way into the room.

“Yeah, just a cramp, in all the kerfuffle I forgot to do my PT this morning.”

“Ah” she says, ducking down to help him move his leg in practiced motions, leaving Stiles to concentrate on massaging the strained muscle. She’s helped him a couple of times, most of the pack is well versed in Stiles’ physical therapy regimen by now, at Derek and Scott’s insistence. Just incase one of them wasn’t around.  “Listen”  Maggie says, slowly working his leg back and forward at the knee. “I just wanted to say thank you while I had the chance. I know having these visions or whatever haven’t been easy on you, especially when you’re still getting yourself back together after the accident. Last thing you need is all this stress, but I need you to know how much it means to me. Elsa and I were all eachother had for a long time and the idea that…” Stiles stills Maggie’s hands on his leg as a tear slips down her cheek, “the idea that she’s been out there all this time, and I didn’t know. That I didn’t help her...”

“Hey,” Stiles says, reaching down to wrap his arms around his new packmate, “it’s going to be okay. Tomorrow you and pack are going to hit that place so hard they won’t know what hit ‘em. All that matters is that you go, that you come for her, it doesn’t matter how long it took.” Maggie hugs him back, nodding her head as a shadow moves across the room, blocking light from the hallway. It’s not a surprise to see Derek and Isaac standing in the door looking concerned. Stiles holds up a hand, motioning for the two of them to give them a moment. They both stay silent but neither leaves, too concerned about Mags to do so.

It takes a few moments but Maggie steadies herself, wiping the tear tracks from her cheeks and smiles at Stiles. “You really are unique you know, I never understood when they talked about you before you woke up, but you are Stiles Stilinski.”

“Uh thanks…”

“You’re kind of stupid too though.”

“What? hey! I thought we were having a moment.”

“We are, this is just the part of the moment where I tell you to start paying attention and open your eyes, sugar.” Maggie smirks, walking away and into Isaac’s arms who guides her back to the rest of the pack.

“What was she talking about?” Stiles asks once Derek enters the room, handing over one of Stiles’ stress balls he uses to strengthen the muscles in his hands.

“Squeeze this,” Derek answers, as he kneels down in front of the chair, reaching out for Stiles’ aching leg. His fingers press into the strained muscles in even long strokes easing the pain as black veins crawl up Derek’s arms. “You need to be careful, you’re going to set yourself back if you don’t keep up with your PT.”

“Yeah yeah…” Stiles mumbles as his head fell back letting the feeling of Derek’s fingers soothe him.

“I’m serious.”

“You always are.”

Derek frowns but says nothing continuing his work while Stiles passes his stress ball between hands, squeezing and working it in his fingers. Getting fine motor functions back was a bitch after a two year power nap, but he’s getting there. “Hey listen,” He starts, turning and reaching for a folder on Blackwater he’d been reading earlier that day, steadying himself with a hand on Derek’s shoulder. “I found…”Stiles’ eyes widen as the familiar dip of his equilibrium being thrown off makes his head spin. “Not again…” He has just enough time to see Derek’s eyes widen before he’s once again thrust into unwanted memories.

The room is at once familiar because it is the same one he’d been sitting in moments before, Derek’s study. The colors are muted, falling in tones of sepia, as Scott paces the room, Boyd, Erica and Isaac sitting around behind him.

“This is needlessly wreckless, Derek.” Boyd says, arms crossed across his torso.

“It’s the quickest way, the easiest way.” Stiles turns looking at Derek who is standing behind him at the desk in his deputy’s uniform.

“It’s the stupidest way you mean.” Erica scoffs. “You are not acting as bait. This is a military organization, they would be on you in five minutes flat. Even if that was miraculously enough time to get Elsa out and make sure the rest of us were clear, that would still be leaving you in the hands of Blackwater.”

“I would be fine, they can’t track like we can, I wouldn’t be captured.”

“That is bullshit Derek and the most worrying part of it is you’re not even making an effort to disguise the fact that it’s bullshit.” Scott roars, “what would we do if you were caught? The pack? Are you even thinking of us? You’re our Alpha!”

“You’re all very capable.”

“Can you hear yourself right now?” Isaac says, finally speaking up from his place on the back of Derek’s sofa. “Is this about him?”

“What? Who?” Scott stops pacing, looking even more confused.Stiles can relate.

“Why don’t you just tell him?”

“Isaac stop,” Derek growls, “This isn’t about him, this is about the quickest and easiest way to infiltrate this place without any of you getting hurt.”

“No.”

Derek’s eyes glow red, “Did you forget who the Alpha is here?”

“No, but you seem to have.”

“Isaac…”

“No, we’re not doing it this way, none of us, including myself and Maggie, will go if it has to be this way, so let’s put that outrageously horrible plan aside right now and start the process of actually planning something that won’t get us all killed.”

The pack turns away from Derek, leaning back over whatever they had been looking at before the idea of sacrificing himself had come into Derek’s mind. Derek however fumes, sitting down at his desk and flipping through some other files he’d been sent by the alpha’s he’d aligned with.

“You are an idiot.” Stiles states simply, shrugging as he comes around the desk to look over Derek’s shoulder. “You’re still thinking about it, even though they just told you that they need you.” Derek turns a page, obviously unable to hear Stiles, “Luckily for you I’m awesome and found a loophole in their security system…” he trails off noticing the page Derek is focusing on. “What the...you son of a bitch…”

 

Stiles is brought out of the memory suddenly and hops to his feet as Derek stumbles back from where he’s no doubt been hovering over him.

“If you even dare go through with that idiotic scheme, I will kill you!”

“Wh-what?”

“You know what” Stiles say poking Derek in the chest.Derek’s nostrils flare as the corners of his hazel eyes tighten, but he says nothing. “Are you trying to prove something? I mean, that’s all I can think, because this plan, this splitting up from the group to get every alpha out at the same time plan, it’s not only doomed to failure but it’s going to get you killed! Do you have any idea what dozens of terrorized, brainwashed alphas could do if suddenly let loose on the general public?”

“It’s not like that…”

“Oh it’s not?”

“No!”

“So you’re not planning on running off without the pack, cutting the power and taking over the center’s control system to open all the cages they have the alpha’s tucked away in?”

“Well yes, but…”

“No buts! Do you know how stupid that is?!”

“I’m not…”

“No, you are absolutely right, you are not doing that!”

“Well you shut up and let me explain!” Derek yells, leaving no doubt that the rest of the pack is listening from the living room.

“Fine” Stiles crosses his arms, “explain.”

“You-you are so difficult, do you know that?”

“I have been told it’s one of my charms, yes.”

Derek sighs, “I’m not going to be alone, the Alpha’s of the other surrounding packs are meeting me there, we have a plan in place that will allow us to gather up the alphas and contain them until we can make sure they’re safe to return to their packs.”

“So why would you keep that a secret?”

“Because I was trying to keep the pack out of danger, this is more risky than our plan to just get Elsa out. I was going to let them enter and retrieve Elsa while I made my way to the control center.”

“That’s not your decision to make” Scott replies as the betas make their way into the room, movie forgotten. “Why wouldn’t you just include us in this plan? Obviously we would all want to help the others stuck there.”

“Because,” the alpha replies, “the moment I open those cages people are going to be dying, wolves and humans, Blackwater are not going to let their pets go without a fight. I want all of you as far away as possible by the time that starts.”

“Well luckily for you idiots I have a better plan.” Stiles smiles, drawing frowns from all of those around him.

“You are not coming.” Derek growls.

“Don’t worry papa bear, I have no intention of skipping through the woods with you and the other big bad wolves.”

“That is such a mixed metaphor I can’t even…” Isaac mumbles.

“Okay, so here is my plan…”

The pack, minus Stiles, leaves early the next morning, making it to the spot Derek had arranged to meet the other alphas and their selected pack members by mid-day. Stiles isn’t even going to think about how many traffic laws they must have broken to make that possible. According to Scott, who has been assigned the task of calling Stiles hourly to keep him updated, the other packs “seem cool, but man they are really serious” and later “there’s this girl named Kira, she carries a katana, I think I’m in love.”

As far as Stiles can suss out, Derek is able to explain Stiles’ plan and get the go ahead to change the plan up enough to hopefully minimize the risk of casualties. When one of the alphas asks why Derek’s second isn’t here to explain himself Stiles is on speaker phone and literally cannot stop laughing, because no, just no. Then when Derek replies that Boyd is his second and the alpha asks why Derek’s mate isn’t there Stiles laughs so hard he cries.

If part of him wishes the alpha was closer to the truth with that one, he keeps it to himself.

They go in at dusk, Scott calling him one last time before they set out for the facility. Stiles had been able to establish the presence of an emergency exit from the schematics of the base he’d illegally downloaded. It was a smarter entry point, not often used, one guard and enabled with a cleverly designed OIS. The OIS present ostensibly to ensure that the last guard out in the case of an emergency was able to shut down and/or destroy evidence of the highly illegal activities going on inside. However, by silencing the emergency alarm from outside, they were going to use it to help them enter undetected. The emergency exit also happened to be located very near the facilities’ central control office. Overall a much better plan than going in through the front and having to work their way back before even being able to release the hostage alphas.

So Stiles wishes Scott good luck and tells him to be safe, tells him to make sure he sticks with the pack and to tell them all that if any of them get hurt there will be hell to pay when they get home. Thus began the longest two hours of Stiles’ young life.

The first half an hour he is fine, reminding himself of the time frame they’d all talked about while still at the loft. He keeps himself busy, cleaning up his neglected room and working on the last paper for his online English class. He has his GED in the bag at this point, but doing the extra credit paper on Julius Ceasar is easy and takes his mind off counting the seconds. The next half an hour is harder. He focuses on PT, tossing his stress ball against the wall and catching it for several minutes before getting bored and moving on to leg exercises. He breathes deeply as he moves his legs, rotating and stretching his ankles and calves before starting the real work of lifting and extending. After what feels like a lifetime Stiles turns to his phone to see no missed calls and that only fifteen minutes have passed since he last checked.

“Argh!” Stiles throws himself back, landing heavily on his unmade bed. Patience has never been his strong suit and in the face of not knowing what is going on while his pack is heading head first into danger without him...well it turns out his imagination is great at painting horribly gruesome pictures.

The next hour...well it doesn’t go any better. At this point all Stiles can think is that something went terribly wrong. What if the blueprints he secured were out of date? What if Scott’s hurt or Elsa didn’t make it? He is well on his way to hyperventilating and his dad is at the station all night covering Derek’s shift while he is probably finding every opportunity to fling himself in front of anything sharp or laced with wolfsbane.

His heartbeat doubles at the thought of Derek hurt, Derek de- he can’t even think it, He is not going there. He hasn’t had a lot of panic attacks since he’s been home, but this might be too much for him.Stiles rests his hand over his speeding heart as he closes his eyes trying to center himself, find something to calm himself down. He’d hate to have the pack survive only to arrive back in Beacon Hills and find Stiles dead from his own fear.

He searches his memories for something comforting, his mom, he thinks at first but her memories are still painfully accompanied by a long litany of “she’s gone, she’s gone.” His dad, he thinks, always there for him, even when he was 16 and lying every other time they spoke. He thinks of Scott, his brother in everything but blood, he thinks of his stupid lopsided jaw and his inability to see the bad in anybody. His breath comes a little bit easier, not so staggered and fast as he thinks of Erica and Boyd and Isaac and Maggie and the comfort they’ve found in each other. The way the pack just seems to exist in this comforting, yet still alien to Stiles, way that soothes him. He thinks of Derek because he can’t not, he thinks of his strength and his smile, how much he actually does smile now, and his touch when he comforts Stiles. His heartbeat is almost back to normal when he looks at his phone again, still silent. His breath is coming easy but he’s wheezing like Scott used to after an asthma attack and he’s tired, so tired.

Stiles rests, eyes closed and face tilted towards the hand that holds his phone, waiting for the overdue ring. He dozes a bit, body exhausted from the episode so when his phone rings he almost misses it.

“Derek’s hurt,” Scott says, “But we have Elsa and the other alphas are being taken to a safe place, we’re on our way back to Beacon Hills now.”

“How bad is Derek?”

“Wolfsbane bullet to the trachea, but we got a bullet and lit him up, he’s almost healed now.”

“Good, tell him when he gets back he is a dead man.” Stiles slams, or well, pushes the disconnect button very forcefully and lets it fall to his bedside table before curling up in his comforter and falling asleep.

 

\----

 

When Stiles arrives at Derek’s loft the next morning the majority of the pack is asleep in the living room, one big puppy pile that Stiles is tempted to join as he’s still feeling a little worn out after the whole panic attack last night. He vears off towards the kitchen however when he sees Derek filling a mug with fresh coffee. He hands it over to Stiles without a word, before pouring his own and sitting across from him.

“Don’t think coffee will make me forget that you’re in trouble.”

“Never” Derek smirks as Stiles downs half the cup of sweet ambrosia in one go.

“Why are you up? Shouldn’t you be sleeping it off like everyone else?”

“I have a shift” He says motioning to his deputy’s uniform.

“Right now?”

“In about an hour.”

“Crap, you can’t call in?”

“You’re dad’s already done enough covering for me this week.”

“But you were just shot!” Stiles yells, motioning to Derek’s chest as a series of sleepy “shhh!”s come from the living room.

“I’m all healed up.” derek shrugs.

“That is, you know what...nevermind” Stiles allows, there is probably no arguing with the stubborn alpha anyway. “You’re okay though, right?”

“Yeah” Derek nods, looking at Stiles closely as if searching for something, though Stiles isn’t sure what.

“Good, that’s good.” Derek takes a sip of his coffee and Stiles tries not to focus on the way the muscles in his forearm move. “So...how’s the pack holding up?”

“alright I think, all things considered.”

Stiles looks over to the living room, spotting Maggie and who can only be Elsa curled up together on the couch, Isaac laying at their feet. Elsa looks smaller than he remembers from the vision. She’s pale and thin, hair long and mussed. She’s curled up in one of Derek’s old sheriff department sweatshirts and holding onto Maggie for dear life. She’s dead to the world, breathing even and deep, sending Maggie’s short hair fluttering with each exhale, and Stiles hopes that means her dreams are peaceful.

“What about the other Alpha’s?”

“They’re being taken in by the Oregon packs. they feel responsible that this all went down in their backyard. Once they can assess them and determine if they’re a danger after their time with Blackwater they’ll be sent back to their packs or counseled until they can be.”

“That’s good” Stiles nods. He hadn’t know what to hope for when they let the alphas out, didn’t know what to expect from alphas that had been held captive away from their packs for so long. He hopes they all have a chance now. “What about Elsa, how is she?”

“She hasn’t spoken yet,” Derek sighs, standing from his seat across from Stiles, “She knew Maggie right away though. As soon as she saw her she clung on and wouldn’t let go.”

“What about...is her being an alpha going to make things difficult? With the pack, I mean?”

“I don’t know, it’s possible to have multiple alphas in the same area, in the same pack, it’s...challenging.”

“In every sense of the word, I’m guessing.” Derek smirks but doesn’t answer either way.

“I’ve got to get to work.”

“Right” Stiles nodded, as Derek grabbed the keys to the camaro and headed towards the door. “I-I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks” Derek smiles, “get some rest.”

Stiles watches as Derek leaves, turning from the door only when Scott makes his way over, grabbing Stiles’ hand and dragging him back to the puppy pile to sleep. He tries his best not to think about what would have happened if Derek hadn’t healed, he’s not sure how he would have dealt with it.

 

\--

 

He’s nearing the end of his appointed physical therapy session two weeks later when he gets the next vision. This time it’s of Jordan. One moment the guy is helping him bend and flex his tense left leg and the next Stiles’ gut is seizing in that all too familiar way. He finds himself standing in the middle of a barn, straw on the packed dirt floor and soft light illuminating the tall ceilings. There are stalls lining either side of the space and he knows that horses are in them but his mind is drawn to a sound at the back. He walks slowly, and the slick smacking sound he’s hearing grows louder until he turns around the end of the stalls and sees two boys. One is dark haired, fair and muscled, a plaid shirt wrapped around his torso as he pushes the other boy against the rough wood. The other boy is slighter, blonde and kissing the other like he’s his whole world.

It’s only moments before the doors of the barn slam open behind them and a man with a glassy eyed stare storms in. “Get your hands off of him you queer!” the man says pulling the dark haired man away.

“Papa don’t!” The blonde yells.

“You stay out of this you little slut.”

“Don’t talk to him like that!” the other boy says.

“Get in the house Jordan”

“But papa!”

“I said get in the house!” Jordan looks to the other boy who takes a deep breathe but nods and Jordan, who can’t be more than 17 reluctantly slinks out of the barn and into the night. “What do you think you’re doing here Oliver?  I thought we made it clear that you two were not to see each other again.”

“I love him” A loud slap reverberates off the rafters as the older man’s hand comes down hard on the boy’s face.

“You’re not going to turn him queer you little shit.”

“I’m not turning anyone anything” the boy slurs spitting out blood on the ground at his feet. “Jordan is what he is and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“like hell it ain’t. You think I worked all my life to build up this farm, to make a life for my boy, all for him to just throw it away on a no account fag like you?”

“He loves me”

“He’s a child. he’ll grow out of it.”

“I’m not leaving him, I will never leave him.”

“You will.” the older man says, stepping closer, “or I’ll do what I should have done the first time I caught you two foolin’ around behind my back. I’ll call in your parents loan.”

“They don’t have anything to do with this!”

“They should have thought about that before they borrowed money from me to pay those back taxes on the land and let their faggot son out to infect mine.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“Oh I am.” he sneers, “if you don’t leave my boy alone I will end you, I will end your families livelihood and I will make sure that pissant little orchard of yours never sees another season.”

When Stiles comes back to himself Jordan is looking up at him from a crouched position on the floor, he’s worried, eyes wide and searching. “Stiles? Are you back with me?”

“What did he do?” Stiles asks.

“Who?”

“Oliver,” Stiles says without thinking, “did he fight for you?”

Jordan stands up quickly backing away. “Who told you about that?”

“No one” Stiles says shaking his head.

“Then how do you know about Oliver?”

“I saw your dad, threatening him and his family”

“Wh-what?” Jordan wraps his arms around his chest, backing up another step. “What are you talking about?”

“No-nothing I’m sorry.”

“No, how could you know that?!” Jordan asks, “Did someone tell you? Did- did my father put you up to this?”

“What? No!” Stiles reaches out

“You- you stay away from me.” Jordan sneers, turning and leaving out the side door.

Stiles is still sat on the table when his father arrives half an hour later to collect him.

 

\--

 

“I’m a freak” Stiles whines as he sits across from Derek in the Beacon Hills Diner. “A complete freak” he reiterates as he take a long sip of his strawberry milkshake.

“No you’re not.” Derek says, sliding Stiles’ milkshake away so he’ll stop playing with the straw.

“Oh really? So it’s totally normal that I can touch people and see their most personal memories.”

“No” Derek shrugs, “but it doesn’t make you a freak.”

“Wow thanks for the great pep talk, coach.”

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself” Derek says, sitting down the burger he’d been munching on, “the way I see it, you did that guy a favor.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well you told him that his dad threatened the Ollie guy right?”

“Oliver, yes.”

“So, who knows what he thought before, he may have just thought the guy dumped him because of his dad, didn’t think he was worth the trouble of fighting for, now he knows.”

“If he believed me, which he definitely didn’t, why would I want the hot doctor who I was dating to run back to his childhood sweetheart?” Derek glares and takes another bite of his burger, “okay, okay right thing to do and all that. God, why does being a good person have to have such a negative effect on my non-existent sex life?”

“Life’s a bitch” Derek huffs.

“You got that right.”

 

The visions come more and more often after that, as if finding Elsa and helping Jordan find his way back to his long lost love has opened up some flood gate. Most of the time it’s not so bad, like one time he touches a little girl’s shoulder and is able to help her find her lost dog. Another time he bumps into a guy on his way into Beacon Hills Federal and is able to pull a fire alarm before the man has a chance to rob the bank and ruin his life forever.

There are times when it’s too much though. He sees Mrs. Gregson putting up flyers around town, her daughter has been missing for two weeks and the posters offer a reward for any information that could lead to her whereabouts. Stiles has to hold back from screaming because of what he sees, He calls in an anonymous tip about the mother and runs to Derek’s loft. He’s crawling into Derek’s arms before he can even start to think about how odd it is that he’s allowed to do so. He cries for a long time and he is never able to to tell him what he saw. Words could never capture the horror anyway.

The thing that sucks about the visions, besides the headaches and the really horrible shit he sees some times, is that he never sees anything about him. Not directly anyway. He’d really like a heads up if the visions are going to eventually peter off or if he’ll have to eventually confine himself to a padded room to stave off overwhelming people and their baggage. But no, he never sees anything about his future or his past. Which is why he’s so surprised to wake up one morning to a vision that while not featuring him is definitely about him.

He’s just gotten up from the couch, limping slowly but without his cane to the bathroom when he stumbles, his outstretched hand landing on the leather jacket Derek left in the kitchen the day before. It hits him suddenly, the air knocking from his lungs as he falls to the floor with the dizziness that overtakes him. Colors blur and the rooms around him shift until he’s no longer at home but at Isaac's coffee shop. Derek is at the counter, Maggie and Isaac opposite wiping down formica and counting out change respectively,

“Oh come on what’s the worst that could happen?” Maggie asks.

“I could run into hunters while we were out and she could get caught in the crossfire and die.”

“I didn’t mean that literally” Maggie rolls her eyes.

“You asked.”

“We swear she’s a really nice girl.” Isaac insists, and Stiles decidedly does not like where this conversation is going. “Come on, when is the last time you went on a date, Derek?” The Alpha sips his coffee but says nothing.  “Exactly, you deserve to have a little fun every once in a while.”

“Maybe that’s not my idea of fun.”

“Yeah, going out on a date with a beautiful girl” Isaac smiles as his mate, “sounds like torture.”

“I’m not interested.”

“come on sugar, we just want you to be happy.”

“No you want me to be like you” He smiles slightly as if that’s not such a bad thing.

“Well a mate would make you happy.”

“I don’t need your help to find a mate, Mags.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t need your help” Stiles mummbles.

“Well, I don’t really see you hitting the local bars Derek” Isaac says closing the replenished cash drawer. “All you do is work and go home, man.”

“Or look after the sheriff.”Maggie interjects.

“Or that”

“Who I believe even finds time to put the moves on a certain nurse that shall remain nameless.” Both the guys look at eachother repulsed but choose to ignore that little tidbit of information for the time being. It’s not really a surprise to Stiles who found a suspiciously clean house and a pink nightgown in the washer when he’d returned home from the hospital. His dad needs a little lesson in stealth if he wants to get these kind of things past Stiles.

“The fact remains,” Derek says pulling out a couple of singles to lay on the counter, “I’m not interested.”

“Derek,” Maggie leans over, placing a hand on his, and Stiles swallows, “you need to get out there again, if you don’t want to let us set you up fine. But you’re our Alpha and all of us just want to see you happy with someone.” Derek squeezes her hand, something pre-coma Derek would never have done. “What’s so wrong with trying to find a mate?”

“You’re lucky you know?” Derek says sliding his hand away and standing to slide on his jacket. “You met at the right time, and you both just knew. You’re wolves and you could sense it.”

“What-?” Derek raises his hand cutting Isaac off.

“Not everyone is that lucky.”

“You have a mate” Maggie says, “Then why…” Her eyes light up before a look of absolute desolation crosses her face. “I-I’m so sorry, Derek.”

“What? What am I missing? Who’s your mate?”

“Stiles.” Maggie answers for Derek. “Too young, unable to sense the connection…” Derek kisses her cheek and leaves a shocked Isaac in his wake. “I’m sorry” she whispers. Stiles is sure he hears her.

He comes back to himself huddled on the cold linoleum floor and his father looking down at him with something akin to horror. “I’m going to kill him.” Stiles groans trying to stand.

“Whoa, slow down there kiddo, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a memory.”

“I thought those only happened when you touched someone” His dad says while helping Stiles to his feel.

“Me too, gotta love this new power, keeps me guessing.” Stiles slides his hands down the front of his shirt removing any dust or debris that might have settled there during his time getting personal with the kitchen floor. “Now if you’ll excuse me I have an Alpha to murder.”

“Hang on a minute, sit down: his father says, pulling a stool out from the breakfast bar and depositing Stiles into it. “You want to tell me what you just saw that has you so riled up?”

“Not really” he whines, his father just gives him an unimpressed look and Stiles throw up his hands resigning himself to his fate. “Derek is an asshole, an asshole with a martyr complex the size of California.”

“Okay, well…”

“No! Don’t defend him dad, that asshole knew good and well that I was his mate and he let me go out on dates with the cute doctor, multiple dates! I have been out of the hospital for months, months not days, not hours, months and I am a goddamned adult, dad. And even if he thought for some ridiculous reason that I wouldn’t return his feelings he still owes me the chance to tell him “Sorry no go.” But what does he do? He lets me...” A hand comes up to cover Stiles’ mouth.

“Forget I asked” The sheriff sighs, taking his hand back and grabbing the keys to his police cruiser, “Just text me if you’re staying over at Derek’s.”

“Oh I am not staying anywhere near that guy.”

“Whatever you say, son.” The sheriff answers with a hint of a laugh before leaving the house and his enraged son behind him.

By the time Stiles gets to Derek’s he has worked himself into a frenzy and doesn’t even bother to knock. He barges in through the unlocked metal door, slamming the industrial piece of shit behind him. He spots Derek immediately sitting on the couch reading a book like he didn’t just completely upend Stiles’ life.

“Stiles are you o-”

“Shut up!” Stiles says standing in front of the alpha with his hands on his hips. “You don’t get to talk right now. You’ve had your chance. You have had months of chances!”

“Am I supposed to understand any of that?” Derek asks putting his book aside.

“What did I just say about shutting up?” Stiles seethes. Derek is silent, a smirk on his face telling Stiles that the asshole is not taking him seriously. “You lied to me. Okay well not lied, but omitted, You definitely omitted to me.”

“I don’t think that’s…”

“Shh!” Stiles scolds, “You knew I was your mate and you didn’t tell me.”

“...What?” It’s practically a whisper.

“What were you hoping it would pass? Am I not good enough any more now that I have these stupid visions?”

“No!” Derek stands, “No it’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like Derek? You wait years for me to wake up and then I do and you do...nothing?” Stiles feels lost, so out of touch with what is going on and he hates it. Usually with Derek it’s simple. Everything else may be wrong, his mind spinning in a million different directions but Derek is stable.  “Except you don’t do nothing because you’re around all the time and you let me talk to you and you help me deal with all this memory vision stuff and I can’t...I don’t want to move on with some blonde doctor because your scowling in the corner is ten times more appealing than his best smile.”

Derek is in front of him in a flash, palming the side of his face in his open hand, “I didn’t want to scare you off. I wanted you to come to me when you were ready.”

“Why would I have thought that it was even a possibility? I have been mooning over you for years, give or take a couple where I had a perfectly legitimate excuse” Derek whines, “if I hadn’t had this vision I wouldn’t have known. I wouldn’t have risked losing you.” Derek’s lips are warm and soft on his own, sliding quietly but surely as he takes a final step forward bringing their bodies into alignment.

It’s so good and so so awkward, Stiles doesn't know where to put his hands and he’s so nervous he feels like he’s going to shake out of his skin, but Derek guides his arms around him to place his palms against the alpha’s lower back. “You’re never going to lose me.” He dives in again, running his tongue delicately along the seam of Stiles’ lips. Stiles gasps as Derek’s hips shift against his own and suddenly his tongue is sliding against Derek’s own. It’s his first real kiss, at least the first that has meant anything. He and Jordan never really got around to that part and there was that thing with Heather before his accident but that was mostly just an opportunity. This was real, this was feelings and longing and mates. Holy shit Stiles has a mate.

“Stop thinking so loud” Derek rumbles.

“You’re still in trouble.” Stiles answers between kisses.

“Okay.” Derek smiles.

 

THE END.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, I hope you've all enjoyed the story. Please feel free to leave comments.
> 
> Also my tumblr full of the prompts I can't find time to write is below! If you have the time you can find them here: http://killedthequeen.tumblr.com/tagged/fic-prompt


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